Right Thinking from the Left Coast

Tag: CYA

In my initial post on l’Affaire Petraeus, I expressed skepticism about whether there was something more sinister surrounding his resignation for broadening the well, if you will. The timing, I did question, but I didn’t read much more into it than a guy getting stupid and certainly didn’t see or expect a Benghazi connection.

Well, here’s the twist: He didn’t get stupid and spill the beans. The woman he was nailing did and went full bunny-boiler on another woman, which set off an FBI investigation. USA Today reports that the FBI found Petraeus didn’t violate any confidentiality rules, though they did notify him of what they found out shortly before the election. Or the political class is just protecting itself, as usual. Either way, Petraeus now gets to do the Schwarzenegger to his family but he’s off the hook for any legal issues.

Is this a scandal? I suppose so, but that was never in question. It just further darkens Petraeus in my eyes, who didn’t come clean about what he had done and didn’t resign immediately when the jig was up. Does the FBI deserve any criticism here? I don’t think so. Petraeus broke no laws, but I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the agents got to explain to a sitting CIA director that they knew what he was up to.

Obama? Yeah, I’m sure he was aware of this before the election and he probably begged Petraeus to keep his mouth shut until after Super Tuesday. I’m not sure where you go with it from here. This will be just one of many scandals that I expect are already piling up within the Administration, given how undisciplined and opportunistic everyone in it is.